Compression, could be music to your ears

Let us start the New Year off with a bit of trivia. What does HDTV broadcasts, DVD movies and DSS satellites have in common? The answer is that they all use a data compression system developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group. You may be thinking, that is nice, but what's the relevance. The relevance is that this same group also developed three subsystems to compress audio files. These subsystems are the MPEG standards, of which you are probably most familiar with the third layer known as MP3.
MP3s are the manifestations of the recording industrys' fears and many music listeners dream. For those of you who have spent the last three to five years lost in a Guatemalan rainforest, MP3 are the files that are freely shared by millions of music listeners a day via the internet. Did I mention that in many cases the music is free? I am not saying that you should choose a high speed internet connection like the one I wrote about three weeks ago in conjunction with a home network like I wrote about two weeks ago, and download music from the net until you have your own record label. I am by no means saying that, although you would hardly be alone in your pastime.
Seriously speaking, there are some things that you should understand about MP3s. First, they are not “CD quality”; they are “near CD quality”. MP3s play on the strength and weaknesses of the human range and process of hearing. In order to compress the size of the file, the sounds that humans do not hear well such as softer sounds, are removed from the file. This may be the point where you begin to wonder about the other two audio layers. Well MP3 combined the positive qualities that MP1 and MP2 had to offer. Neither, MP1 or MP2 can list file compression and sound quality both as strengths.
File compression can become an issue for you when you notice that you computer is performing sluggishly because your hard drive is packed with MP3 files. The more that you download, the more that you should defrag your system to keep your files contiguous. Also, this is why it would not be a bad idea to have two computers networked and use one for downloads and the other for your productivity tasks. MP3s’ can compress a 32 megabyte file to about 4 or 3 megabytes, but those small megabytes can add up quickly.
Lastly, it has been my experience that trying to download songs with a dialup modem is the modern version of the Chinese water torture. It can take ten times as long compared to a broadband connection. I am not a broadband spokesperson, but the difference between broadband and dialup is so significant that I do not think that it will be long before the dialup connection goes the way of the eight track player.